All My Friends Say
by Kaidasti
Summary: Duo wakes up after a crazy night at the club and can't remember anything.  Will talking to the other Gundam pilots jar his memory?  2xH
1. Chapter 1

A.N.: So this is the first songfic I've ever tried to write. Or at least that's what it was supposed to be, just a little songfic. But it developed into something bigger. It's from Duo's POV, and contains 2xH and some vague hints of 5xS. Like usual, if you don't like the pairings, don't read! There's some language in here (Duo's a pottymouth like usual), and references to drinking and hangovers and a very minor bar fight. Also some angst.

Disclaimer: This is a sad disclaimer indeed. Not only do I not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters, but I don't even own the song! "All My Friends Say" is by Luke Bryan, and the three other songs that you'll find references to in this story have their singers listed. I don't really own anything… except this old decrepit computer.

Dedication: This story is dedicated to my Linguistics, Spanish, and Organic Chemistry professors because it is only due to them that I've actually finished this story. I want to thank them for having classes that are so boring that if I didn't use the time to write, I'd probably go crazy. Thanks!

_Italics_ mean thoughts, --- comes before and after lyrics

-----

All My Friends Say (by Luke Bryan)

---

"I got smoke in my hair,

My clothes thrown everywhere,

Woke up in my rocking chair  
Holding a beer in my hand  
Sporting a neon tan."

---

I moaned, waking myself up. Where was I? Damn, I sure had one hell of a hangover.

Fighting the splitting headache, I looked around, trying to clear my head. Hilde's home?

"No you idiot, my home." Great. I was talking to myself again. But I was right. She had given me the house when she moved out. Not that it was really a home anymore.

My brain took a long time to process what was around me, but I relatively quickly made a second discovery. I had been sleeping in the rocking chair in the corner of the living room. No wonder my back hurt.

I stood up to stretch and the room spun. I reached out to stabilize myself and realized that I was still holding a can of beer.

I groaned. "I've definitely had more than enough to drink. Maybe forever." I put the beer down, not wanting to think about drinking any more.

_You're lying to yourself Maxwell,_ my conscience whispered, _You might lay off for a day or so, but you know you'll go right back to the club like you have been ever since she left._

"Shut up," I told myself.

I really needed coffee. I walked over to the kitchen, pausing to look in the mirror by the stairs.

I looked terrible. My eyes were bloodshot and my hair was everywhere. It must have gotten out of the braid somehow. I even had neon flecks of paint all over me and it was all through my hair. Tentatively, fearing the worst, I sniffed.

I wrinkled my nose in the manner that Hilde said was characteristic of me. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Everything smelled like smoke and alcohol, but I guess there were worse smells. It would take forever to wash the smell out of my hair though.

I also noticed that I was in my boxers. "Oh great, please tell me I had my clothes on when I came home." Turning around, I noticed with great relief that my leather jacket, jeans, and various other articles of clothing (why were there like 15 socks lying around? I must not have done laundry in a long time) were strewn across the room.

I moved on to the kitchen. I really needed that coffee.

---

"My stereo cranked up,  
I can't find my truck,  
How'd I get home from the club?   
Ain't got a clue what went down  
So I started calling around"   
---

I stumbled over to the sink and pushed the button on the coffee maker. As soon as it was done brewing, I grabbed a cup and took a big gulp, burning my mouth in the process.

But burnt mouth or not, the coffee managed to wake me up, although it didn't do much for the headache. I looked over at the clock: two in the afternoon.

And then I realized why my head was pounding so much. Or at least partly why. The stereo was pounding in the next room. It was blaring out one of Hilde's songs that she had loaded into it when she still lived here. It was one of her sappy love songs that I had always teased her about. I always kind of thought the fact that she played those songs so much was some sort of sign that she had feelings for me, but I was wrong. Whether she had ever liked me or not, she certainly didn't at the end when she decided to leave. "To give us a chance to be independent and have our own lives" she had said. Sure. Basically what she meant was so that she could date every scumbag guy out there while I starved because I didn't even know how to operate the toaster.

I sighed. I knew I wasn't really being fair to her, but I didn't really care. I switched off the stereo and the sudden silence made my head spin.

Steadying myself, I moved over to look out the window. I could barely see out because of all the piles of scrap metal that had been collecting without Hilde here to catalogue them.

"Sure you'll come back to help me run the business Hil," I accused her, feeling somewhat ridiculous talking to no one.

But then something caught my eye. Or rather, the lack of something.

"Where the hell is my truck?!" I exclaimed. The garage was open and completely empty. "How in the world did I get home last night? What happened?"

Thoroughly confused, I sat back down. I knew I had been to the club the night before, that much was obvious. But had I gone alone? Who would have brought me home to Hilde's house?

"Aha! I got it!" I exclaimed, excited at remembering something. I had gone out with the guys last night. The Gundam Gang had gotten back together for a night out. Even Quatre had come because he had been worried about me. He thought I was depressed or something.

But beyond that, I couldn't remember a thing. The whole night was a blank. Well, something crazy must have gone on. I felt like complete shit, more than usual. I must have drunk myself into the ground.

Well, at least I now knew how to find out.

---

"And all my friends say  
I started shooting doubles  
When you walked in.  
All my friends say  
I went a little crazy  
Seeing you with him.  
You know I don't remember a thing,  
But they say I sure was raising some cain,  
I was a rock star, party hard,  
Getting over you comeback kid;  
Yeah I must have did  
What all my friends say   
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah."

---

Well, I knew who could be most likely to tell me the truth without mincing words, so I rinsed my face and tied my hair back without bothering to braid it and called him.

"Duo." Heero's stern face appeared on the vid-screen.

"Hey, He-man, how're you doing?"

He grunted. "I'm busy. What do you want?" he asked in monotone. "You look like shit," he added with a smirk.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Or actually don't, I already know. I just wanted to chat about last night," I goaded him by talking slowly, "What happened? I don't remember anything."

"I took you home. Your truck's still at the club." Heero made a move to hang up.

"Wait! But what about before that? What did I do?" I asked, somewhat hesitantly.

Heero paused and looked almost concerned. Almost. "You don't remember anything?"

"Nah, just that you guys were there."

"She was there."

She? Hilde? Her name immediately popped into my head. But I didn't want to make Heero think I was pining after her or anything. "She who?"

He just looked at me without saying anything for a minute. "And she had a date. Some guy named Robert. I looked him up, ex-OZ officer."

"Hilde had a date!" I yelled, jealousy rising, "With someone from OZ. Great. She was probably screwing him behind my back the whole time." I seethed angrily. Only then did I realize that I had clearly given myself away. I smiled sheepishly and tried to pretend not to care.

Heero looked at me for another minute, and I sensed accusation in his eyes.

"So you started drinking, a lot. Double shots."

I groaned. "No wonder my head hurts so much."

"Then you bought drinks for everyone in the bar."

I groaned louder. What with the scrapyard not really functioning since Hilde had left, I really didn't have all that much cash to throw around.

I noticed that Heero had stopped talking, as if his story was over. "And that's it?"

He didn't answer my question. He just kept looking at me. That meant no.

"What then?" I asked, frightened. What could I have done that not even Heero wanted to tell me?

"You don't want to know. Leave it at that." Heero hung up the phone, leaving me dumbfounded.

Well, at least he had given me half of the puzzle, the part about Hilde. And he had warned me about something else too… 

---

"I found my billfold,   
I cried oh no no,  
Good time Charlie got me now I'm broke.   
But it was worth acting like a fool.  
Yeah girl I must have really showed you."  
---

"Crap!" My wallet was empty. How much money had I taken with me? Hell if I knew. But I was sure that I hadn't intended to spend it all. Even after all this time, I still carried extra cash around, just in case. I never did really believe that the war was over.

I mulled over what might have happened, but didn't come up with anything. But I was sure it couldn't have been that bad. I mean, I was the God of Death, if I wanted to be jealous and angry, I would have done it well. I bet I sure showed Hilde that I wasn't pining over her or anything. Hell, if I had been that crazy, I definitely must have proven that I wasn't moping, that I was out having fun.

But I still wasn't convinced; I figured I needed to call another source.

---

"Cause all my friends say  
I started shooting doubles  
When you walked in.  
All my friends say  
I went a little crazy  
Seeing you with him.  
You know I don't remember a thing,  
But they say I sure was raising some cain,  
I was a rock star, party hard,  
Getting over you comeback kid  
Yeah I must have did  
What all my friends say   
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah."  
---

After a couple rings, Quatre picked up the phone in his office. "Duo?"

"Hey Quat, how did I know you would be the only one working on a Saturday?"

Quatre just smiled at me, and I could sense sympathy in his smile. What had I done to make him sad for me?

"Duo, how are you doing? I know it's been hard for you, so you don't have to lie. Just please, how are you really doing, Duo?" he asked, staring at me with his wide, expressive eyes.

"Easy there Q-man, I'm doing fine. A little hungover, sure, but doing fine overall. I really don't need any sympathy for a little headache."

Quatre looked unconvinced and I almost considered not asking him about the night before. Who knows what he would try to do to comfort me then? But then again, I really wanted to know. 

"But anyway, the reason I called was that I needed to ask you something."

"What Duo? Please let me know how I can help."

"Well, it won't take much effort from you. At least I hope it won't," I joked, expecting a smile but not getting one, "I just wanted to know… well, this is kind of awkward to ask, but you see, I was really drunk last night and I really don't remember anything that happened. Heero told me I got kind of riled up over Hilde being there. But he wouldn't tell me what exactly that meant. I was just wondering if you could help me out by lending me your memory of it?" 

Quatre looked stricken. "Oh Duo, I'm so sorry, that's so terrible."

"Terrible? What's so terrible about it? Come on Quatre, what is it that has gotten all of you riled up? I was just drunk, it happens to all of us sometimes, except maybe you."

"Oh Duo, it's more than that, you were hurting so much."

"Hurting?"

Quatre struggled to explain himself. "I didn't realize how much you cared for her Duo, and seeing her there with another man wasn't good for you. It brought back memories of your time together and reminded you of how much you missed her. And you tried to drown your sorrow in alcohol," he ended sorrowfully.

Although I felt this was somewhat of a dramatic re-telling of the story, I had already heard this part before from Heero and I was hoping Quatre had something more to tell me. "And? Then what?"

Quatre blushed. "Well, it was the alcohol really, you just… were very boisterous."

"Boisterous?"

"Yes, boisterous."

I paused, _was that supposed to really tell me anything?_

"But come on Quat, what did I actually **do**?"

Quatre looked uncomfortable. "Well, umm, she was gone by the time you started crying, and no one really saw it. I just knew because I understood how sad you were."

I had cried?!! Great. First I had gotten drunk and made a fool of myself and then I had cried. Or maybe crying was what I did to make a fool of myself. Did I cry "boisterously"? Wow. I cried. Whatever happened to 'grown men don't cry'?

Quatre was still on the phone, looking even more uncomfortable. I decided to help him out. I quickly slapped the token Duo smile on my face.

"Well, thanks Q-man, you were a big help. Wow, I must have drunk a lot, huh? But don't worry about me, I'm much better now. I just need more coffee," I paused and made a show of sniffing the air, "and a shower."

Quatre smiled sympathetically, "Okay Duo, you can put up that tough front if you need it, but please just listen to my advice. Please Duo, tell her how you feel. Don't be too sure she doesn't love you."

I cringed. How did Quatre know everything? Well, I must have made it pretty obvious in my drunken state. But I couldn't just blindly tell her. I was scared. I admit it, I was. The God of Death was scared of rejection. Not that it really mattered. She had already made her answer clear by moving out. But Quatre wouldn't want to hear that.

"Thanks for the advice, Quatre. I'll think about it."

"Please do," Quatre said and smiled as moved to hang up the phone. As he reached over to hit the button to turn off the vid-screen, he came a little more into the light and I noticed something.

"Wait Quat!"

He looked at me puzzledly, "Yes Duo? Is there anything else you need?"

"No just... turn your head toward the light again? Yeah, like that. Q-man, do you have a black eye? What have you been doing?"

Quatre looked embarrassed. "Oh, it was nothing, just an accident Duo, I promise I'm fine. But I really have to get back to work."

"Oh, okay Q-man, just be careful okay? You don't need to be getting into bar fights. Remember pacifism?" I joked.

For a moment I thought Quatre was actually going to roll his eyes at me, but he just hung up the phone. _I wonder what that was all about, how could Quatre have gotten a black eye?_

I rubbed my temples. Okay, so Quatre was more of a headache than his information was worth. I was more confused now than I had been before. But then again, I had learned something.

But I knew there was something more. There was a big blank in my memory that none of them had bothered to fill. Well, it was probably a hopeless cause, but I really wanted to find out. I figured Trowa might tell me. Even though he rarely talked, I figured he may be a better source than Wufei, who would just taunt me.

The phone rang about 10 times before that girl – was it Cathy? – answered the phone.

"Hi! Cathy here! Oh, it's you," she finished coolly, glaring at me.

I sighed. Cathy was a beautiful, sexy woman, and I made a rule of staying on the good side of women like her. But we had gotten off to a bad start. Sheesh, you'd think she would have forgiven me for finding Trowa now that he had returned in one piece. And it wasn't really my fault. How was I supposed to know he was suffering from amnesia? 

"Hey Cathy, it's Duo, remember me? We met once."

She only glared at me harder.

"Ummm, okay. Well, I just wanted to talk to Trowa. Is he around?"

Her glare didn't falter one bit. If anything, it became even fiercer. Wow, even Heero might have been able to take lessons from this girl.

"Easy! Calm down! I just want to ask him a question, I'm not going to drag him away to war or anything!"

"Make it fast," she hissed and walked off to get Trowa.

I had almost recovered from her death glare when Trowa came onto the screen.

"Tro! Wow, am I glad to see you! I thought Cathy was going to glare daggers through my skull. She'd probably have thrown the daggers at me if it had been possible!"

"Call Wufei, he has a video," Trowa said in monotone and hung up the phone.

I was left somewhat dazed. "What just happened? Call Wufei?"

Well, that left just one more source of information. A video? Did that mean he had filmed me? What had I done?

Somewhat nervously, I called up Wufei at the Preventer's office, guessing that he too would be working on the weekend.

He answered with a broad smile. I was scared already. "Good afternoon ma'am, I mean Maxwell. How are you doing today? How are you feeling? Like a woman maybe? You must have some headache after last night."

What the hell was he talking about? I had never understood him. What did he have up his sleeve? "Hey there Wu-man, I'm doing fine. How about you?"

"Let's cut the small talk Maxwell. I know what you want."

"You do?"

"And I've already sent you a copy of the video from last night. Mind, I said **a** copy. There are many more. And in places where not even your would-be-girlfriend could hack into them. Keep that in mind next time you decide to cross the line with me… onna." He laughed maniacally as he hung up.

Onna? Did he call me a woman? What was going on? And was he trying to blackmail me?

"Wow Wu, you really need to work on your blackmailing technique. You need to make it clear what you're talking about and not just confuse your target," I advised, knowing he had already hung up.

But he said he had sent me a copy of the video. Finally. Now I would know exactly what happened.

I went to refill my coffee mug, then sat back down in front of the TV to watch whatever it was that Wufei had sent me.

To be continued…

-----

A.N.: So what do you think? There should be just one or possibly two more chapters, depending on how I split it up, and then an epilogue. It's all written, I just need to go through and edit it. And I know I haven't finished the lyrics to the song, they're still coming. And the other songs are in the next part too. What do you think? I know some of my characters are a little… over the top (cough cough Wufei cough), it's just for the humor effect. I hope y'all liked it!

A.N. 2: I have edited this story just to correct a little typo (I'm sorry Quatre! I didn't mean to spell your name wrong!). Nothing else has changed. Thanks so much for the reviews and for helping me fix my story!


	2. Chapter 2

A.N.: I'm not going to repeat the whole long note from the beginning of the story, but let's see… for this part we need a language warning for Duo's pottymouth. And of course, this is 2xH, so if you don't approve of the pairing… I warned you.

Disclaimer: This is a sad disclaimer indeed. Not only do I not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters, but I don't even own the song! "All My Friends Say" is by Luke Bryan, and the three other songs that you'll find references to in this story have their singers listed. I don't really own anything… except this old decrepit computer.

Dedication: This story is dedicated to my Linguistics, Spanish, and Organic Chemistry professors because it is only due to them that I've actually finished this story. I want to thank them for having classes that are so boring that if I didn't use the time to write, I'd probably go crazy. Thanks!

_Italics_ mean thoughts, --- comes before and after lyrics

-----

All My Friends Say (by Luke Bryan)

---  
"I was Elvis rocking on the bar,  
Working the crowd pouring out my heart."   
---

It started by focusing on me. I was really throwing those shots back. Seeing it made my head hurt more. Heero was sitting next to me at the bar, calmly drinking a beer and completely ignoring me. On my other side was Quatre. He looked like he was trying to talk me out of drinking myself into a stupor.

Trowa's shoulder was visible on the side of the screen, and Wufei was obviously holding the camera. Trowa must have given him a look or something (I doubted he had talked) because Wufei commented, "What? You know Duo. After drinking this much he's going to do something embarrassing, and I want proof."

The camera swung around to the other side of the room and my heart stopped. It was my Hilde. Seeing her there with that big brute, who I assumed was Robert, with his arm around her protectively almost made me want to go get the beer out of the fridge and join my on-screen self in drinking.

But my Hilde was just too beautiful. I couldn't keep my eyes on her scumbag date. She was looking at me! Well, at me in the video. At me drinking myself under the table.

I signed. Was it at this point that I had started bawling?

Suddenly a commotion started off screen and Wufei quickly swung around to film it. The rapid camera movement made my already pounding head spin for a moment, but when it cleared, I saw myself standing on the bar.

"Oh great, what now?"

On-screen Duo started dancing to the loud music in the club. Wow, I was really going at it too. I had always been a pretty good dancer, at least in my opinion, and the alcohol had removed all my inhibitions, or at least the few that I had. I was really showing off my moves.

"Yeah, go me go. Wow Wufei, you suck at blackmail. This isn't embarrassing, it's impressive!"

After dancing for some time, I seemed to get bored with it. "DJ! Yo! Stop! Cut the music!"

"Oh no Duo, what are you doing?" I asked my on-screen self.

The music was cut

"Come on DJ, play me something I can sing to. I've got quite an audience here!" on-screen Duo shouted.

"No! Damnit, you can't sing! Don't do it DJ!" I begged futilely, knowing the DJ in the video couldn't hear me.

The guy manning the music chuckled. "I've got just the song for you."

Wufei zoomed in so that I could see the man reach for a box that looked like it hadn't been touched in a while that said "Oldies" in big black letters.

He flipped out an album and put it on.

I heard the music start.

"Oh no, he didn't! He couldn't have!" I gasped at the screen.

The vocals of the music started: "That, that Dude looks like a lady; That, that Dude looks like a lady," ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" by Aerosmith).

"He's making fun of the braid!" I yelled at the screen, unconsciously clenching my fists, "Come on man, I hope you tackle him or something!"

But no, my on-screen counterpart completely failed to defend my braid. In fact, he didn't even notice that he was being made fun of. He started singing along!

I groaned as the sounds of my somewhat off-tone voice got amplified by the microphone someone had handed to me and I sang along to all the lyrics.

"Why, why did I listen to that Oldies channel I could pick up on Deathscythe's communications system? If I hadn't, I never would have known the words to this song!" I moaned.

But I had to hand it to myself. I really wasn't that bad. Sure, I wasn't the greatest singer out there, but I wasn't dismal either.

As the song finished I heard a knock at the door. "What? Who could that be?"

I started to get up, but then decided against it. I couldn't answer the door like this. I wasn't dressed, and my hair was everywhere, and my head was pounding. Normally I wouldn't have cared, but I really didn't feel like company at the moment.

The pounding got louder, and I didn't think it was just in my head. Wow, someone was really determined to get in. Finally it stopped. Just as I was about to start the video again, I heard the lock in the door turn. _What? No one has a key to this house. Well, no one except…_

"Hilde?"

"Hey Duo, I just wanted to check on you. Oh, I'm really sorry I just barged in," she paused awkwardly, noticing that I wasn't quite in the state to entertain visitors. But then she sat down decisively on the couch.

I was glad she didn't say anything about not being wanted. Heaven knows I wanted her there. And it would have made me feel terrible to feel like she didn't feel at home in her own house.

"Nah, it's your house babe. So, what brings you here?"

"I was just worried about you Duo, I wanted to make sure you were okay. You drank a lot last night and," she giggled, "You look pretty terrible."

I smiled, "So I've heard. Thanks for reminding me."

She smiled back.

The pounding of my heart almost drowned out the pounding in my head. Damn, why did she always have this effect on me?

"So, what are you watching?"

Damn! She had seen the TV. "Nothing!" I said hastily as tried to turn it off, but she wrestled the remote out of my hands.

"It's you! It's you last night! You can't stop now, you're getting to the best part!" she exclaimed, pushing the play button.

I really would have rather she did not see me make a drunken fool of myself… again, and the crying must still be on its way, but I figured she had already seen it last night. And it was nice to be able to sit here on the couch with here like the old days before she left.

I was somewhat frightened though. She had said the best part was coming up? What was that? Hilde had always liked it best when I made a fool of myself. I remembered doing all sorts of crazy things to make her laugh.

I turned my attention back to the TV. I was making a big finale to the song, and I grimaced at hearing myself basically howling out the last note.

The crowd was loving it though. I figured it was probably because they were too drunk to know what good singing was.

Hilde giggled.

"Hey, what are you laughing at?" I asked playfully.

"I'm laughing at you, you big doofus!"

"Hey, be careful babe, don't taunt the God of Death!"

"Right, I'm so scared," she answered sarcastically.

"You asked for it!" I tickled her ribs.

Hilde screamed with laughter. She was ridiculously ticklish, as I had learned from living with her for like 3 years. I mercifully stopped shortly afterwards, not wanting to make her angry now that she had finally come to visit me.

As soon as she managed to catch her breath, she punched me in the arm.

"Oww!" I yelped, happy to be friends with Hilde again.

"You're such a … dummkopf! Stop pestering me and watch the video, you're missing the best part!" she responded playfully.

I loved it when she spoke German, it was really cute.

I turned my attention back to the screen once again, thinking how hard it was to concentrate with Hilde sitting next to me. But when Hilde turned the volume up, my jaw dropped.

"Man! I feel like a woman! Yeehaw!" Duo hollered on-screen.

I groaned. This DJ had to die.

Hilde was laughing again. "No Duo, you have to watch! This is the best part!"

Fearfully, I looked back at the screen.

"We don't need romance, we only wanna dance

We're gonna let our hair hang down.

The best thing about being a woman,

Is the prerogative to have a little fun, fun, fun!

Oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy, forget I'm a lady"

("Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" by Shania Twain)

My eyes widened as I saw on-screen Duo reach behind himself. The meaning of one of the lines I had just heard hit me. I reached behind myself, remembering that my hair had gotten loose and out of the braid.

"Oh no," I whispered, "No, don't do it…" I begged my on-stage self.

But I couldn't stop it from happening. I watched myself pull the hair tie out of my hair and throw it across the room.

"Oh God no," I begged.

"Oh yes," Hilde giggled evilly.

On the TV, I was busy running my fingers through my hair, freeing it from the braid.

"Oh, oh, oh totally crazy  
Forget I'm a lady  
Men's shirt - short skirts  
…  
Oh, oh, oh I wanna be free  
Yeah, to feel the way I feel  
Man! I feel like a woman!"

I sighed. There I was, hair free flowing, shaking my hips to the music, and singing about feeling like a woman. "You win, Wufei, this really is good blackmail," I conceded.

Hilde looked at me sympathetically, "Well, a least you have a nice voice Duo. Although you sound better when you sing in the shower."

"What? How do you know that? You stalker!"

"Oh come on, how many years did we have to share a bathroom? Of course I heard you sing in the shower."

"I didn't mind sharing a bathroom," I muttered.

She looked at me thoughtfully.

I looked at the TV, trying to hide how much I missed her. On screen, I was on my knees making a big finale.

Hilde, seeing that the song was almost over, yelped and quickly hit the "Pause" button.

I looked at her questioningly, "What? What's coming next?"

"Oh nothing Duo, I just… I need to talk to you."

"Yeah?" I asked. I could tell this was going to be really bad.

"Well, the real reason I came to see you, apart from wanting to check on you, was… I just had to know. You know, it's completely okay if you were just… kidding. I'm not going to be angry or anything, I just have to know." She stopped and looked at her hands in her lap.

I waited a couple minutes but, seeing as she wasn't saying anything else, asked, "Well?"

She looked up, startled. "Did you mean it when you said… what you told me last night?"

"Babe, you'll have to be more specific than that, I don't remember anything from last night."

"Oh," she said uncomfortably. She looked unsure. I saw her glance at the door, back at me, and finally at the paused TV. That seemed to make up her mind.

"You said…" she looked into my eyes and paused for a moment before going on, "You said you loved me," she finished quietly.

-----

A.N.: And there's part 2! Sorry about the cliffhanger ending… maybe it'll make you curious enough to want to read the next part! There's only one more part and an epilogue left to come. Hope you enjoyed it!


	3. Chapter 3

A.N.: I'm not going to repeat the same, long, boring Author's Note again. You can read it on the first chapter, it hasn't changed. Just by the way, this is the chapter with the mild bar fight. And the last chapter (except an Epilogue), yay!

Disclaimer: I'm so sad that I don't own Gundam Wing or the songs in this story that I can't even think up a creative disclaimer.

Dedication: This story is _still_ dedicated to my Linguistics, Spanish, and Organic Chemistry professors because it is only due to them that I've actually finished this story. I want to thank them for having classes that are so boring that if I didn't use the time to write, I'd probably go crazy. Thanks!

_Italics_ mean thoughts, --- comes before and after lyrics

-----

All My Friends Say (by Luke Bryan)

-----

"You said…" she looked into my eyes and paused for a moment before going on, "You said you loved me," she finished quietly.

Oh crap. I was stunned for a moment before my brain started working again. Of course that's what had happened, that was why Quatre looked like he wanted to cry for me; that was why Heero told me I didn't want to know.

Hilde was looking at me curiously with her big, expressive eyes. She looked almost hurt. What had I done? I had to say something. And I had to lie. Violate one of my own principles. I didn't have a choice.

"Wow, I did?" I laughed painfully, "I must have been really drunk, huh babe?" I tried to smile, "Who knows what other crazy things I said. Don't worry babe, I'm not pining over unrequited love or anything, I'm fine," I finished weakly.

If I didn't know better, I would have thought the look on her face was disappointment. But it was probably just relief.

Without responding, she turned back to the TV and pushed "Play".

At this point I was really scared. What was going to happen? I frantically tried to think of some way to get Hilde to stop watching. I had a feeling it was going to get very awkward very fast. But there was nothing I could do that she wouldn't see through, and I really didn't want to insult her.

The music started, but I didn't recognize it immediately. Knowing the DJ's opinion of me though, I couldn't imagine that it was going to be good.

"If I should stay,

I would only be in your way"

("I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston)

Duo on-stage had caught on faster that me and was already singing along. Maybe I remembered things better when I was drunk.

Where was this song going? It didn't seem to be too bad. After all, it was about a breakup right? Not about love.

Damn, I had gotten distracted again. What had I been singing that had been making Hilde fidget?

I looked up in time to see myself take a deep breath for the chorus. And at that moment, I remembered what the song was. Crap.

"And I---eee---aaai will always love you---hoo---hooo!"

Oh. I was speechless in shock for a moment before my brain kicked in, using all the my extra reserves of brain power to think so fast that my vision spun.

How could I explain this? I was just singing right? It had nothing to do with Hilde.

As if reading my mind, on-screen Duo jumped off the bar as he got to the second repetition of the chorus.

"And I---eeee---aaaai!

Will always love you---hoo---hoooo!"

He walked dramatically across the room. For a second, I couldn't help but be impressed by my sense of rhythm and how well it worked even when I was drunk off my rocker.

And then I got it. I was going to Hilde. Damn, how was I supposed to get out of this one? Duo got down on his knees right in from of Hil.

"And I----eeee----aaaai!

Will always love you---hoo---hoooo!"

On screen, Hilde looked very flustered, although I surprisingly thought I could see some sort of … pleasure? Was she flattered by my attention? It couldn't have been my singing. I didn't know what off-screen Hilde was doing. I didn't have the courage to look at her, although I could feel her eyes boring into my skull. I knew she wanted me to respond, to explain myself. And I knew I was supposed to give her my smile to prove I was joking, but the smile didn't work so well on Hilde. She knew me too well and had learned to see through the smile and understand when there was something hidden behind it. I wasn't sure if I could project a thick enough mask to keep her from seeing through.

And even more than that, I was simply terrified. I couldn't bear to see the accusing look in her eyes. So I took the coward's way out and kept my eyes glued to the screen.

I figured that maybe I had to give some her some response, so I chuckled to express my amusement at my antics on-screen. Or at least I tried to. My chuckle came out more like a growl. Great. Now she probably thought I was going crazy.

But keeping my eyes on the screen, for the first time since Hilde showed up, allowed me to see what was happening. And it wasn't good.

By this point, I was holding onto Hilde's skirt and the music had ended.

"I love you Hilde, please come back to me. Please don't leave again. I need you Hil, I love you!"

Luckily, most of my babbling was incoherent, but enough words were audible to know what was going on.

I couldn't identify the look on Hilde's face (the one on the TV, I still didn't dare to look at the one right next to me). She looked mostly surprised, but there was more… was it disgust? Could it be… tenderness?

She started to lean down to my level, but then suddenly the boyfriend stepped in. Bastard.

"Let me handle this babe," he said, suavely, pushing Hilde away from me.

Babe? She was my babe, he couldn't call her that! I clenched my fists and couldn't help but growling out loud, and I felt Hilde jump in surprise next to me. Oh well, maybe she would think I was chuckling again.

The idiot was yelling at me about staying away from Hilde and how I was a bum and still lived in her house after making her leave.

_Come on Duo,_ I thought, _You can't let this OZ scum berate you like this!_

But on the screen, Duo was just sitting on the floor looking stunned. He seemed to be looking for Hilde.

And then it kicked in, I saw the light in my eyes. The God of Death was back. Duo growled, in a way that was very obviously not a chuckle, and leapt at this Robert fellow. He was caught off guard and I managed to knock him down and start pummeling him with my fists.

"… my babe! … away! … bastard … OZ! ... screwing around …" Only a couple words were audible among the ruckus, but it was pretty apparent what I meant.

After he recovered from his shock, the much bigger man completely lifted me up and held me away from him as I flailed wildly. Damn. If I hadn't been completely drunk, I could have taken him.

He was laughing at me! Okay, I admit that I was quite a sight with my hair unbound and flying everywhere as I drunkenly threw punches in random directions. Clearly I was better at dancing while drunk than at fighting while drunk.

I managed to land a lucky shot on his jaw. That stopped his laughter. Instead, he reached back and punched me in the abdomen.

I grunted out loud accidentally, almost feeling the pain my on-screen counterpart was feeling. Why did everyone always punch me there? I bet my organs were all black and blue by that point. Heero, the scientists, Trowa, now Robert…

I saw both Quatre and Hilde run at Richard, but he seemed to have gotten angry at this point and was yelling about 'crazy punk kid trying to steal my date'. Quatre grabbed his arm and he instinctively swung a fist at him. Hilde screamed something and he immediately calmed down. He apologized to Quatre as he helped him up, gave me a dirty look, and left with Hilde.

He probably left a little faster than he has intending to when he saw both Trowa's and Heero's guns pointed at him. Oh sure, they would protect Quatre, but where were they when he was beating me up? I knew where Wufei was at least. He hadn't moved to help anyone. He seemed perfectly content to just film it all.

I had to admit to myself that Robert was a pretty decent man. I would have pummeled anyone who came on to my Hil, not just hit them once. Well, I guess I already pummeled him. And it was clear that he didn't mean to hit Quatre. It was just his soldier training. I supposed he couldn't help it.

But that didn't help me from hating him. How dare he touch my Hilde! He could hurt her, or disappoint her. Only I was allowed to be that close to her!

A loud wailing brought my attention back to the screen. Oh, so this was the crying part. After Hilde and Robert had left, I collapsed into tears. I was moaning something indecipherable, but the words "Hilde" and "love" seemed to come up a lot.

And poor Quatre. Although I could see his eye starting to swell, he was already back at my side, holding my hands and… were those tears in his eyes? Was he crying with me? Or was he just hurt?

Quatre may have been more sensitive than the rest of us, but he wasn't weak. He wouldn't cry over a black eye.

The club was a lot emptier now. The crowd that had been watching the whole fiasco was almost completely gone. I figured Heero's and Trowa's guns had had something to do with that too.

On-screen Duo managed to pull himself together somewhat and turned to Quatre, "Man, I love her so much Quatre, but she doesn't love me. She left me Q-man! How am I supposed to live without her?"

At that moment, I saw Trowa appear before the camera. "Stop filming."

Wufei sighed and switched it off. The screen went black.

I didn't know what to do, I was stunned.

We sat in silence for a while before Hilde finally broke the ice. "I didn't know you cried after I left."

Great, how was I supposed to explain this? I had just been floored.

"Ha ha?" I laughed weakly, trying to hide something. Any and all logical thought had deserted me at this point, but I remembered that laughing had worked to hide my feelings before. I don't really know what I was thinking.

Hilde wasn't one to let sleeping dog lie though. She rounded on me. "You can't hide behind that pathetically fake laugh. I know it's fake."

I just couldn't think of anything to say.

She just kept going. "It's true, isn't it?"

_Say something!_ I screamed at myself. _Do something!_

But I didn't. I couldn't. I wouldn't.

"You love me," she concluded in a whisper.

I just sat there, not daring to look at her. I didn't know what I would find, but nothing good, of that I was certain. Whether it was anger or pity, it would definitely be bad.

"You love me!" she insisted, "It's true! Oh my God," she whispered, shocked.

And I wasn't strong enough, wasn't brave enough. I couldn't even open my mouth to refute it. I stayed silent; I just didn't know what to do.

"Duo, Duo please talk to me, please don't leave me alone like this. Duo, I don't know what to do!"

I heard her sniffling and it snapped me out of my state of shock and inaction. I hated it when I made her cry. It finally gave me the strength to look at her. She was there, staring right back at me with her wide, blue, wet eyes.

And I knew it was all over. I didn't have my mask up. And even if I had, she had once told me that my eyes were so expressive that she could read them like a book. So she read. For several minutes we sat there, frozen in time, staring into each others' eyes.

Suddenly, she threw herself at me and wrapped her arms around me, crying openly now, "Oh Duo, I never knew, I'm so sorry!" she sobbed.

Sorry? What was she talking about? Why was she sorry? I was the one who made her cry.

"Don't cry, babe, I'm the one who's sorry. I know this is a burden to dump on you. And I'm really sorry. I tried not to let you see so it wouldn't bother you, but you know how I get when I drink, I have no tolerance for alcohol. And you should just go home and forget about me. You know, I'm not sure how I fooled you all this time anyway. It must have been because you weren't around much. Which was a good thing! I promise I'm not blaming you. If you had been here, you would have found out so much earlier. But I really missed you. I missed you so much! I didn't know what to do without you. And I haven't had a good steak since you left. But that's not it. I know it frustrates you when I say stuff like that. But I miss that too, you getting frustrated. Or even angry. Because then I get to do silly things until you can't help but laugh and forgive me. And I miss it when you laugh too. I love your laugh. Particularly when I make you laugh so had that you throw your head back and guffaw. And then you look almost ashamed of making so much noise and you hit me. And I love it when you hit me, or when you shove me out of your way, or pat me absentmindedly as you walk by, or give me a hug when you're really excited. I love it whenever you touch me. Something moves in my heart, in a good way. Or when you talk to me… or look at me. Or even talk about me and … I guess what I'm trying to say is… well… yes Hilde, I love you. Are you happy now? Now leave me to my misery Hil, I don't want to cry in front of you and make you feel bad. Please just go," I concluded, somewhat out of breath and shocked at my tirade. Not usually being very quiet, not speaking for so long must have caused this all to build up inside me and eventually just overflow.

I saw the same surprise and shock mirrored in Hilde's eyes. She seemed kind of speechless, and I couldn't blame her. I just… I needed to be alone. I moved to get up and lead her to the door.

"Duo, wait."

I stopped instinctively. Damn, why couldn't I just shrug her off and leave? Why couldn't I ignore her?

"Duo, please don't leave. Please. Don't leave me like this." She got up and walked over to my side. "Even more than that, don't do this to yourself, don't hurt yourself like this." She paused, sniffling a little bit. "Duo, won't you even look at me? Do I hurt you that much? Duo… Duo, look at me!"

So I did. I didn't know what else to do. I was reduced to blindly following orders. There was no harm in looking at her now. There was nothing to hide anymore.

She faltered a little bit, but then pressed on. I knew by now that nothing could stop this woman.

"Duo, please stop hurting yourself, why are you torturing yourself like this? I don't want you to hurt anymore, I'll come home."

I couldn't stand her pity any longer. I just wanted her to leave, I couldn't bear this anymore, I wasn't strong enough. "Come home Hilde? What good would that do? Just so I could suffer more seeing you each day and Robert coming to pick you up every night? Why do you want to torture me? Why won't you just leave? Now you know my feelings for you, and it's hard to bear loving someone who doesn't love you back, but living with that person is even harder!"

"Robert's gone, I told him I didn't want to see him again," Hilde whispered, tears running down her face.

Even now, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of guilt for making her cry. But then I saw that indomitable spirit of hers kick in as she picked herself up emotionally.

"Robert doesn't matter. What matters is… oh Duo, I'm messing this all up. What I'm trying to say is…" she paused and looked at the ground for a moment before determinedly looking right back into my eyes, "I love you Duo, I always have."

What? What was she talking about?

She was hugging me. What was going on? She was in my arms and she felt so good. I instinctively put my arms around her. My body knew what was going on, and approving, but my mind was light years behind, not that that was anything new.

I cleared my throat to get my voice working again. "What did you say?"

She looked up at me with her dazzling smile and with tears still in her eyes. "Duo, I love you, I've loved you since the first time I saw you and tried to recruit you to the wrong side in the war. I've loved you for so long Duo, I just thought you never cared."

Shy loved me? My mind was having a hard time processing it all. She loved me? Why?

"Why do I love you? What a silly thing to ask," she answered, and I realized I must have spoken aloud, "You're my world Duo, that's why I love you. You're everything to me."

"Then why? Why did you leave?" I asked, my mind still reeling.

She looked away. "I just couldn't bear it anymore. Duo, do you know what it's like to have to live with someone every day, loving them as much as I love you, and knowing that they're never going to love you back?"

I grimaced. So that was it. Hilde had been going through exactly what I had been feeling for the last three months. But she had been living with these feelings for years. Wow, how had she survived?

"And I tried to get over you Duo, I tried to move on. I tried to date other guys to convince myself that my feelings for you were just hormones and being awestruck by you during the war. But it didn't work. I couldn't bear going out with any of them more than once. They just… weren't you."

So Hilde didn't leave because she hated me… she left because she loved me? Wow, I would never understand women.

But all this stalling had given my mind a chance to catch up. Hilde loved me! She loved me, she loved me, she loved me! 

"You love me!" I exclaimed to Hilde.

She laughed at me, finally looking truly happy. "Took you long enough. But yes Duo, I do love you, very very much."

I looked back at her. "I love you too Hilde." I answered solemnly.

She giggled. "I know Duo, trust me, I heard you last night."

I smiled back at her, finally complete. Hilde was mine again, all was well in the world.

---

And all my friends say,   
I started shooting doubles  
When you walked in.  
All my friends say,  
I went a little crazy  
Seeing you with him.  
You know I don't remember a thing,  
But they say I sure was raising some cain;  
I was a rock star, party hard,  
Getting over you comeback kid.  
Yay I must have did  
What all my friends say   
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

-----

A.N.: So what did you think? A little fluffy, I know, but poor Duo was so sad, he deserved a little fluff. Well, in case you're in the mood for even more fluff, I have an epilogue coming up for you. Thanks for reading my story if you've made it this far! It's become a bit of an epic songfic hasn't it?


	4. Epilogue

A.N.: This is the end!!! Finally, thank you all for sticking with me and reading through this story. I'm sorry it took so long, I'm in the middle of finals, so I don't have much time for updating stories. As for the warnings on this chapter, the major warning if fluff. If you thought the other chapters were corny, you probably shouldn't read it. This is also where the hint of 5xS comes in. But still mainly about Duo and Hilde. Anyway, thanks for reading, and get ready for the "Happily Ever After"!

Disclaimer: I'm so sad that I don't own Gundam Wing or the songs in this story that I can't even think up a creative disclaimer.

Dedication: This story is _still_ dedicated to my Linguistics, Spanish, and Organic Chemistry professors because it is only due to them that I've actually finished this story. I want to thank them for having classes that are so boring that if I didn't use the time to write, I'd probably go crazy. Although it's a little less dedicated to my Organic Chemistry professor now because his final was really mean.

_Italics_ mean thoughts

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All My Friends Say (by Luke Bryan)

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Epilogue

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"Would you like to dance, Mrs. Maxwell?" I asked my beautiful Hilde, my new wife.

"I would love to, Mr. Maxwell. And if we don't dance your first dance as husband and wife, I think Relena might come after us for breaking tradition."

She was so happy. I could tell by the way she was radiating beauty, love, and joy. I was happy too. The day had finally come. Hilde was finally really mine, my wife. And she was simply stunning in her long white dress.

I was snapped out of my reverie by Wufei getting up on stage to talk. He looked a little sullen. He hadn't been that excited to be my best man, and I had a feeling that Sally had had something to do with him accepting my offer. Although Hilde disagreed, she was convinced that he had agreed on his own and was secretly pleased. I wasn't sure if I could see Wufei caring, but I wasn't going to openly doubt Hilde's feminine intuition.

And I hadn't really expected him to accept when I had asked. I'm not sure even Sally could convince him. But I was really glad he had. I mean, it had been all because of him and his video that Hilde and I had ever even admitted our feelings for each other.

Wufei was trying to get everyone's attention, and he finally managed to by flashing his Preventers' badge. I was glad he hadn't decided to use the gun he carried everywhere with him instead. We really didn't need another of Relena's rants about weapons.

"Okay, be quiet. It's time for the first dance, so clear the dance floor. Now."

People shuffled across the room. Wufei looked me and … did he smile? Oh God, Wufei smiled, what was he going to do?

Hilde had moved me out onto the dance floor, but I was keeping my eyes on my best man.

"So Hilde has chosen her own song for the first dance, and you will be hearing that soon. But first, by my authority as best man, I have chosen a different song, and this one has a music video to go along with it. I actually was planning to use a different song and a different clip from this video, but certain people," he glared at Quatre and Sally at this point, "informed me that it would not be appropriate. So, without further ado, here it is." He smiled at me, again, and walked off stage.

Now I was very frightened and I even saw Hilde's smile slip a little. By God, if Wufei made my new wife unhappy on her wedding day, he as going to die.

The music started and I instinctively started dancing with Hil, thanks to those dancing lessons Relena had dragged us to. The song sounded familiar, but I couldn't put my finder on it. Why did this seem so familiar?

Hilde gasped and pointed behind me. Stifling the urge to jump, I spun her around, ending with myself facing the wall she had been looking at. And what I saw almost made me stop dancing. I think it would have if Hilde hadn't taken charge and started leading me around the floor.

I closed my eyes in thanks for the video being muted.

But there it was. Whitney Houston's song again, and Wufei had projected the video of me singing it to Hilde in the bar. I could see myself mouthing the chorus:

"And I----eeee----aaaai!

Will always love you---hoo---hoooo!"

Hilde pulled me back around to face her. She leaned in close and whispered, "I think it's sweet, don't kill Wufei." And she moved back and smiled.

God I loved that woman. I heard "awwww"s from the women watching me making a fool of myself and realized that I must have looked kind of sweet, singing at Hilde's feet. And Hilde smiled happily at me.

Hilde was finally mine, in my arms, as my wife.

"The song is true babe, I will always love you. And fine, I won't kill Wufei."

She smiled back. "If you did, I don't think Sally would ever forgive you. And I want her to be there to deliver my babies." She smiled teasingly.

My eyes widened. _Babies? Wait, like mine and Hilde's? You know, I think I kind of like that idea._

All was right in the world. I smiled back at my wife and mother of my future children. I would have to remember to thank Wufei later for the surprise video, maybe when I asked him if he wouldn't mind being a godfather.

THE END

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A.N.: I'm sorry it's so short and kind of sloppily thrown together. I just couldn't help myself, I wanted a wedding! Anyway, just a quick little thing to round off the story, thanks for reading!


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